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ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN THE PIRDOPSKA AND MEDETSKA RIVERS, TRIBUTARIES OF THE TOPOLNITSA RIVER, BULGARIA

Kristina Gartsiyanova, Marian Varbanov, Atanas Kitev, Stefan Genchev

Abstract

Harmful substances like heavy metals are very important group of pollutants which can cause considerable detriment to the environment if they exceed certain concentrations. The aim of this study is to define the concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, As, Zn, Cd and Ni in the waters of the Rivers Pirdopska and Medetska, tributaries of the Topolnitsa River, Bulgaria for the period 2015-2019. In the analysis of the heavy metal content Water Quality Index (Canada), as well as statistical and graphical methods were applied. In this study the data set was analyzed and evaluated in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2000/60/EU-Water Framework Directive and its equivalent criteria transposed into Ordinance N-4 on surface water characterization from 2012 and the Ordinance on environmental quality standards for priority substances and some other pollutants from 2010. The results obtained in this study show that during the analyzed period the concentrations of Cu, Mn, Fe and Zn in the Medetska River are much higher than the reference norms, and the deteriorated quality of the river waters of the Pirdopska River is due to the high concentration mainly of Cu.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2021/3.1/s12.03

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